A group of young ski school students with instructor Imogen Watkins (left) who spent time on Sunday with ski patroller Steve Ruskay (right) and CARDA dog Mojo (front) learning how to conduct a transceiver search. Photo by A. Treharne

Fernie Alpine Resort held Avalanche Awareness Days on the weekend, at the same time the Canadian Avalanche Centre was warning of extremely high avalanche danger in the region.

FAR ski patrol did demonstrations of transceiver searches and mock avalanche dog rescues for the public. They also showed the educational movie The Fine Line and answered questions about avalanche safety.

The snow pit demonstrations had to be cancelled due to the rain.

There will be a silent auction of outdoor technical equipment at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Griz bar followed by a live auction of other items.

The Canadian Avalanche Centre has been warning of extreme avalanche danger in this area for the last week, caused by wet snow landing on top of drier snow, and previous weak layers in the snowpack.

In their latest bulletin for the Lizard Range, they said, “Wildly fluctuating temperatures have set up highly varying snowpack conditions.

“If you head into the backcountry over the next few days, take a cautious approach and limit your exposure to avalanche terrain. There is still a very real possibility of triggering a destructive avalanche.”